Outdoor Exploration

Today I decided to go exploring with my camera. The plants are almost all in full bloom and the weather is a "chilly" 91 degrees with blue skies and not a cloud in sight.

What more can you ask for? How gorgeous is that!? When I was in college I worked in a plant nursery. (I have to say plant nursery because some think children when I say nursery.) We had so many beautiful plants and flowers come through the doors and I learned a lot. Unfortunately, you can't grow the amount of stunning flowers here as you can in Oregon. Our yard is severely lacking at the moment, so I went out to enjoy the ones our neighborhood has on display.

There were busy bees buzzing in and out of this beauty, but I couldn't get the picture focused and snapped in time before the little guys flew away, so I settled for the best picture of this flower that I could get. I love the varying shades of purple with the sage green behind it. It pops! Another purple I came upon was:

Lantana. Lantana is one of my favorites. For some reason in Oregon I did not like it. I think it got spindly and not very full there, but here it is pretty much used in every yard and display and it acts similar to a ground cover in some cases. It comes in shades of purple, red, orange and yellow. I love the red best.

I love the different kind of desert plants that grow here like weeds. One of those is a type of agave, which we call "Shin Daggers" because they are really poky and they stab your shins if you are not careful. I captured a few of those that I really liked.

I like this one because it surprised me with a gift I wasn't expecting of the spider web. Spiders love, love, love shin daggers. Black widows are a main resident of ours. I am often too afraid to walk down the walkway to and from our front door because it is like a black widow expressway. No thank you!

I loved the curve of this blade. This shin dagger was so small when we first had it put in, but now, three years later, it is ginormous! It is starting to take over our walkway and we have had to severely cut it back. Sadly, I may have to think about taking them out because they are just too big. I may put in this gorgeous desert version of a bird of paradise. I will post the best picture of that I have later.

This picture was fun because it is through the hole in a yard ornament that my dad made. The yard ornament is a butterfly that has been roughly cut out of a piece of sheet metal. Through the hole gives a unique perspective of the ordinary.

I was having a hard time with all the wind today getting a decent picture of the true beauty of this plant. This is the type of bird of paradise I was telling you about earlier. The reds, oranges and yellows are stunning and pair that with a gorgeous blue sky and you have a stunning display!

This particular plant was giving me the hardest time. I wanted a clear picture of just the open flowers, but the wind was blowing so much that it would not stay still for anything and snapping a good close up was impossible. They are everywhere and are very lovely!

And, finally, my favorite of the day.

I love this particular cactus. It is growing wild all over the desert and for some reason I find it so odd because it looks like someone just took a handful of blackberry stalks and placed them in the ground. During its blooming season all of the sticks are covered in a beautiful chartreuse green foliage. It is wonderful!

These are just a few of the gorgeous flowers around me. This does not count the trees or anything else. I will have to wait until another day to share those, but for now, enjoy the beauty that the AZ desert has to offer in my small neighborhood.

Photographs

Some of my favorite moments have been captured by photos. Sometimes, just to remember that something is real I go back to the photos. Have you ever eaten something that was so perfect that when you think about it later it seems like it wasn't real? I went to LA to visit a friend of mine a while back and she was working on some of the world's best cupcakes. I am not joking you. Everything was from scratch, even the cake. What made it all the more spectacular was the buttercream frosting. Just thinking about it now makes me drool. Did she just leave the frosting plain? Nope! Gourmet all the way. We had orange, lemon, almond, cherry, candied ginger, and, my personal favorite, sea salt and honey.

Are you drooling yet? I daydream about them every time I have a store bought cupcake put in front of me. Someday I will have to attempt them myself. The trick with the sea salt and honey frosting is to used whipped honey and chunky sea salt. Mmmmm....

On this same trip we went on a photo adventure and found all sorts of fun things to take pictures of. One of the best pictures I came up with was of some stairs inside the old LA Zoo cages.

I loved the lighting and depth of the picture. It is amazing what you will find when you peek between bars and around corners!

Other moments that I love are times with family. We went with my husband's parents to Glacier National Park a couple of years ago and I took this photo of the lake.

My husband might try to tell you that he took this one because we were handing the camera back and forth, but, nope! I took this one. I was so awestruck by the reflection of the clouds in the water and how it was almost like pure glass.

Two years in a row we visited Disneyland for Christmas. I loved it because I didn't have to decorate my house because Disney was doing my Christmas tree. The thing I loved most was the castle. (Did you know it is Snow White's castle at Disneyland and Cinderella's at Disney World?) Trying to put the beauty of Snow White's castle into words would be a disservice to its loveliness. Let the photo be the descriptor.

Words cannot describe this beauty. The fireworks made it even more amazing. I am in love with lights and this, coupled with the fireworks, was breathtaking. Disneyland truly is a magical place.

Another thing I love about taking pictures is finding the unexpected. I went to our Renaissance festival not too long ago and was wandering about when I found this little beauty.

There were actually two of them, this one and a pink one. They were hanging up in the archway of a booth where if you didn't take the time to look up, you never would have seen them. I was quite taken by the light as it sparkled in the sun. Always take the time to look up, you never know what treasures you might find!

The final two pictures I am going to post today are running photos. I like to run where the view does not repeat itself. We have a lovely neighborhood nearby that allows for me to see the entire valley where we live from all directions as I run. I also love to run in the mornings at sunrise or in the evenings at sunset. I happened upon something quite lovely when I was running one morning and stopped to take a picture of it. The sun in the background did something unusual to the photo and I thought it was unique and unexpected. I is amazing that this photo was taken with my phone!

I love how the sun almost looks liquid behind the cactus. Gorgeous!!

And, finally, an achievement. I  know I have the physical version of the subject of this photo that I can pick up and hold, but I love having something to share with everyone. Two years ago I was obese and couldn't run to the end of my driveway without becoming out of breath. My friends and my husband encouraged me to start running. I followed a podcast program and in nine weeks was able to run for 30 minutes without stopping. Slowly, but without stopping. Five months later I ran my first 5k. That Christmas I suffered a knee injury that took me out of the game for almost 6 months. I started running again last spring and joined the gym in July. Through intense training, I have gone down 9% body fat, lost 14.5 inches total and ran my first 1/2 marathon in January. Without the support of everyone around me I would not have been able to accomplish this amazing success.

Photos help capture a moment that sometimes our memories let slip. We need to always be prepared to make those memories last so we can come back to them when we need a reminder.